General Information on Student Health Insurance Plans

Being a full time student has its advantages. For starters, if you are a full time student and under 25, you can still qualify for health coverage under your parents’ plan. It may be cheaper, however to buy your own plan.

While it would be great if there were special health insurance discounts for students, this is usually not the case. Unless there is a plan offered by your school, students purchasing individual health insurance will buy the same plan at the same price as non-students.  So it begs the following question…

What is the best health plan for college students?

The answer, unfortunately is…it depends.  The best plan for a healthy male student who is not on any medication and rarely goes to the doctor may not be the best plan for a female student who is on medication, sees her doctor regularly and who may consider having children in the next few years.  You have to find a plan that offers the benefits you care about, for a price you can afford. So ask yourself which of the following is important to you.

• The ability to see a doctor for a low co-pay
• Dental
• Vision
• Maternity
• Brand name drug coverage

Next Steps?
If you have a good sense of what’s important to you in a health insurance plan, you may be ready to get a quote and compare plans by price and benefit.  Or you may want to check out the following article first: Eight Health Insurance Options for Recent Grads